推荐幼儿读物：《The giving tree》《爱心树》
qooboo 写于 2010-03-23
一本《The giving tree》中文译名是《爱心树》
在美国教育部举行的调查中被评为最受教师和孩子们喜爱的100本书中之一。
作为20世纪最伟大的绘本作家之一，希尔弗斯坦用简单朴实的插图、浅显的文字向我们讲述了爱、成熟与完美。他的绘本作品幽默温馨，其中还有着淡淡的人生讽刺与生活哲学，不只吸引儿童，更掳获了大人们的心。 30多种文字流传世界各地，美国本土销量1800万册！美国大学生必读书目另类的天才大叔谢尔·希尔弗斯坦
这是讲一棵大树和一个小男孩的故事，故事的大意是：从前有一棵大树，它和一个男孩儿是好朋友。每天男孩儿都跑来和它一起玩，他们很快乐。可是随着时光流逝，男孩儿长大了。大树感到了孤寂。一天，孩子来看大树，"我需要一些钱。"于是大树把自己的苹果给了孩子。后来又一天，长大了的孩子来了，"我需要一幢房子。"于是大树把所有的树枝都给了孩子。又过了很长时间，孩子又回来了，"我需要一条船，驾着它到远方去。" 于是大树又把自己的树干给了孩子。又过了很久，已经变老了的孩子回来了。"非常抱歉，孩子，"大树说，"我现在只是个老树墩，没有什么可以给你的了。""我现在需要的实在不多，"孩子说，"我只想找个安静的地方坐坐，我太累了"。于是孩子坐下了。大树很快乐。
这是一个温馨、又略带哀伤的动人故事。这是一个讲“爱”与“被爱”、“付出”与“索取”的故事。听着文字、读着画面，在场的每一个人都被深深地感动了。
作者西尔弗斯坦(Shel Silverstein)堪称二十世纪美国文艺界令人印象最为深刻的鬼才之一，1932年出生于芝加哥，少年时代就因为缺乏运动细胞、长相又不讨女孩子喜欢，因此决定把自己的时间用来写诗和作画，由于当时的他从未接触过任何名家的作品，反而发展出一种非常独特的个人风格，等到女孩子们因为他的表现而开始注意到他的时候，他已经忙得没有时间去理会她们了。
西尔弗斯坦多才多艺，除了诗人、画家、词曲作家、唱片制作人和歌手等身份之外，他令人印象最为深刻的，却是他为儿童们所绘制与编写的儿童文学作品，以及童诗与儿歌。不过，他并不是一开始就从事儿童作品创作的，因为他早期都是以成年人作为设定的读者群，由于他的出版公司主编独具慧眼，建议他尝试儿童作品，没想到却激发了他的另一种潜力。出版於1964年的《奉献的树》是他最早的儿童文学作品之一，也是最受推崇与喜爱的经典，其他有名的作品还包括《失落的一角》（The Missing Piece, 1976）和《阁楼上的光》（A Light in the Attic, 1981）等等，这些优秀的作品国内都可以找到中译本。
这首歌的演唱者巴比贝尔是西尔弗斯坦的老友，也是乡村歌坛最具特色的资深艺人之一。他来自俄亥俄州，出身贫门，青少年时代在农场和成衣厂打工。由于喜爱音乐、却又买不起乐器，自己做了一把吉他开始练习，进而在一支乡村乐队里面找到一份没有酬劳的工作。他最重要的作品，是在70年代推出的一系列专辑，这首“一棵奉献树”就是他跟鬼才大师西尔弗斯坦合作，根据《奉献的树》这篇儿童作品改编的一首想到成功的歌曲。
The Giving Tree, （节选）
By Shel Silverstein
Once there was a tree . . . and she loved a little boy.
And every day the boy would come and he would gather her leaves
and make them into crowns and play king of the forest.
He would climb up her trunk and swing from her branches and eat apples.
And they would play hide-and-go-seek.
And when he was tired, he would sleep in her shade.
And the boy loved the tree . . . very much.
And the tree was happy.
But time went by.
The boy grew older, and the tree was often alone.
Then one day the boy came to the tree
And the tree said, "Come, Boy, come and climb
up my trunk and swing from my branches
and eat my apples and play in my shade and be happy."
"I am too big to climb and play," said the boy.
"I want to buy things and have fun.
I want some money. Can you give me some money?"
"I’m sorry," said the tree, "but I have no money.
I have only leaves and apples.
Take my apples, Boy, and sell them in the city.
Then you will have money and you will be happy."
And so the boy climbed up the tree and gathered her apples
and carried them away.
And the tree was happy.
But the boy stayed away for a long time . . . and the tree was sad.
......
And after a long time the boy came back again,
"I am sorry Boy," said the tree,
"but I have nothing left to give you- my apples are gone."
"My teeth are too weak for apples," said the boy.
"My branches are gone," said the tree. "You cannot swing on them-"
"I am too old to swing on branches," said the boy.
"My trunk is gone," said the tree. "You cannot climb-"
"I am too tired to climb," said the boy.
"I am sorry," sighed the tree.
"I wish that I could give you something…
but I have nothing left. I am just an old stump. I am sorry…"
"I don’t need very much now," said the boy, "just a quiet place to sit and rest. I am very tired."
"Well," said the tree, straightening herself up as much as she could,
"Well, an old stump is good for sitting and resting.
Come boy, sit down. Sit down and rest."
And the boy did.
And the tree was happy.
The End.
我全读完了
感觉不错 ~\(≧▽≦)/~
哦。真好
一直很棒，非常欣赏！
我们也有这本书，哲理性太强担心5岁的孩子看不懂
是吧
充满爱心